Locking mechanism for elevator-doors



B. WEXLER. LOCKING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT 3I| 1918.

Patented June 14, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN \VEXLER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE PEELLE COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LOCKING MECHANISDI FOR ELEVATOR-DOORS.

Application filed October 31, 1918.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN 'Wnxnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at the borough of Brooklyn, in the city of New York, county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements, in Looking Mechanisms for Elevator-Doors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates torlocking mecha- -nisms for elevator doors, and more particularly to a type thereof adapted for use upon an elevator door having slidable door sec tions, movable in opposite directions in the same vertical plane, wherein the locking lever passes beneath the hanger bar of the lower door section.

Locks of the character-to which my invention relates are so constructed as to permit the opening of a door only when a car is at a door opening closed thereby, thus affording a factor of safety through the prevention of the opening of any door from the floor side. This construction not only prevents accidents as result of doors being improperly opened, but also is factor of safety in the event of fire, since it prevents the spread of fire through theshaft from one floor to another. as a result of open doors.

ll hen the elevator is in service, the car will have an operator thereon, so that free access may be had to any floor by means of the car. ,lVhen, however, the elevator service is shut down, as for the night, it is a common practice to leave the car at the top floor and leave the door upon that floor Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 14, 1921.

Serial No. 260,485.

- to a door closing the door opening at which unlocked, or open, so that in an en1ergency,-

access may be had to the car.

In a. lock made in accordance with my invent-ion, the construction is such that all doors of a shaft may be positively locked, means being provided whereby the locking lever of any door may be disengaged from the hanger bar, in a manner to permit the opening of that door either for the purpose of gaining access to the elevator car, or for running a fire hose through the shaft in the event of fire.

With a lock of this character, it is essential to provide an emergeno releasing the car is ordinarily stopped when the elevator service is shut down.

Since the latch lever is ordinarily engaged by the hanger bar, it is essential that the emergency releasing mechanism be capable of developing sufiicient power to insure the disengagement of said lever from said han ger bar.

The invention consists primarily in a looking mechanism for elevator doors, consisting of the combination with a plurality of door sections movable in opposite directions, the lower which sections has a laterally ding hanger bar thereon, and a flexible connection therebetween, and the upper of said sections, of an oscillatory lever pivoted adjacent the side of the door within the elevator shaft, means having a normal tendency to thrust said lever toward said hanger bar, cooperating means operative upon said lever. and carried by an elevator car, whereby said lever is withdrawn from its operative relation to said hanger bar, or permitted to assume its operative relation thereto, means operative upon said lever and accessible from the floor side of the elevator door, and actuating means operative thereon, whereby said lever may be withdrawn from its operative relation to said hanger bar; and in such other novel features of construction and combination of parts, as are hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure l is a view of a door of an elevator shaft, broken away on horizontal planes and condensed, embodying therein a locking mechanism of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of a locking mechanism, with a fragmentary portion of an elevator car in the inoperative relation thereto;

Car

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the locking lever released by the emergency mechanism;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the upper part of the latch lever in the locking relation to the hanger bar; and

Fig. 5 is a similar view, with said lever withdrawn from the operative relation to the hanger bar, by the emergency release mechanism.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, I have illustrated a single elevator door structure of the counterbalanced type, showing a locking mechanism made in accordance with my invention, applied thereto.

This door structure comprises two sections, 64 and b, vertically slidable in opposite directions in the same plane. Said doors are mounted upon vertical tracks or guides 0, upon opposite sides of the door opening, and are connected by flexible chains or cables (Z, mounted upon suitably arranged pulleys e.

The lower door section 2) is provided with a laterally extending hanger bar 7', project ing beyond the guides or tracks 0, which hanger bar provides the proper offset connection for the chain or cable cl.

lVhen the door is opened, the section b in its entirety passes the sill of the door, and the section a passes above the lintel thereof, the proper meeting point of the doors being midway between said sill and lintel.

For locking the doors in the closed position, I provide a latch lever g pivotally mounted upon the angle bar h, supporting the track or guide 0, adjacent the side of the door.

Said lever g is normally thrust in the path of the hanger bar 7, means operative upon said lever and cooperating means carried by an elevator car being provided, whereby said lever will be automatically removed from this position when a car is adjacent the door opening, so as to permit the opening of the door.

In the form of the invention shown in the drawings, this means comprises a short secondary lever 2' also pivoted upon the bar 7, one arm of said lever being pivotally connected with an arm of the lever g and the other arm thereof having adjustably mounted thereon an impact member j adapted to be engaged by a shoe k carried by the elevator car m. Acting upon the lever g is a spring a, which spring is so set as to have a normal tendency to thrust the impact member j into the path of the shoe with a resultant oscillation of the lever g in a manner to bring it within the path of movement of the hanger bar 7.

The length of the upper arm of the lever g is such as to bring the stop surface 0,

formed by the top of this lever, below the lower edge of the hanger bar 7, said lever being provided with a projection 0, having a beveled lower face adjacent the top thereof, and presented toward the path of movement of the hanger bar 7, forming a second stop surface a short distance below said bar, when it is in this position. The distance between the stop surfaces 0 and 0 need not be great, it being merely necessary toafford a suflicient distance to compensate for a reasonable stretch or elongation of the cable or chain (Z, or of the actuating cables of semi-automatic, or full automatic doors.

lVhile a multiple stop lever is not an essential characteristic of my present invention, such a lever has certain desirable characteristics and may be used advantageously in connection with other characteristics of the invention.

It is not my intention to claim this form ,of latch lever in my present application, however.

Operative upon the lever g is means whereby said lever maybe drawn from below the hanger bar 7 from the floor side of the doors, in connection with which means I provide actuating means separable from said first named means, so as to prevent the unauthorized use of this mechanism.

In the form of the invention shown, I provide an opening in the wall 79 at one side of the door opening, which opening has a sleeve 9 fitted therein. Pivotally connected with the lever 9, adjacent the top thereof, and projecting through the sleeve, is a screwthrcaded stem 9, carrying thereon a collar 7*, having a free sliding fit with said sleeve. The open end of the sleeve Q is exposed upon the floor side of the wall ,1), so that the screwthreaded socket key 8, having a flange 8 adapted to engage the surface of the wall 79 about the sleeve g, or a wear plate formed by a flange upon said sleeve may operatively engage the stem 7' and apply the desired stresses thereon. The key .9 has a cylindrical portion adapted to enter said sleeve and turn freely therein, said cylindrical portion being of sufficient length to engage the screw threads upon said stem.

The locking m chanism heretofore described, is duplicated upon opposite sides of each door, to provide a suitable support for the section 6 while it is closed. and minimize any tendency of the door to on one side.

The operation of the herein described mechanism'is substantially as follows Each of the doors in an elevator shaft is equipped with its own independent locking mechanism, which, being arranged within the shaft, is inaccessible from the floor side of the door, so that under normal conditions all doors in a shaft are closed and locked in a manner to permit only one door to be opened when the elevator car is at a door openin closed thereby. When a car approaches an opening, the shoe is carried thereby will, through its engagement with the impact member j oscillate the lever i, which, by reason of its pivotal connection with the lever 9, will impart such movement to said lever as will draw the stop surface 0 or 0 from below the hanger bar f. When the shoe 7; passes from its operative relation to the impact member 5', the spring at will restore "the lever to its normal position, where, when the doors are closed, it will pass below the hanger bar 7'' and thus prevent the opening of the door. By using a multiple stop lever, the locking of the door is assured even though the door sections may not be at the proper parting line.

The locking mechanism of any door in a shaft, or if desired, all doors in a shaft, may be provided with an emergency release mechanism. ll here a shipper cable is used, this release mechanism may be advantageously applied to all doors, since this will permit access to the shipper cable in order to bring the car to the desired floor. In other types of control, however, capable of operation only from the car, it is necessary to provide only one door in a shaft with this release mechanism.

In describing the mode of operation of the emergency release mechanism, reference will be had more particularly to the type of elevator control above referred to, and it will be assumed that following the common pracrice the elevator, when service is shut down, is left upon the top floor of the building. With the ordinary hanger bar lock, it is essential that the doors either be left partly open, to prevent the lever g becoming operative, or else tostop the car with the shoe 7c in engagement with the impact member in either case the door at the opening on'this tloor, is left unlocked.

By using a door embodying my invention, this door, like every other door in the shaft, may be closed and locked, the key a being carried by the watchman, so that in an emergency, he may ascend to the top floor, insert the cylindrical portion of the key within the sleeve, and rotate it, so as to pick up the threads upon the stem r. This may be quickly done, as the collar r upon said stem centers said stem with relation to the sleeve and the cylindrical portion upon the key will center the stop of the screw-threaded socket of said key. As the key is turned, it will draw the stem 1" inwardly of the sleeve 9, the movement of which stem will oscillate the lever g' in a manner to draw it from below the hanger bar f, thus permitting the opening of the door. By the construction described, the lever will be held in this position until the key has been removed. By using a screw-threaded connection between the stem r and the key 8, the power applied to the lever r is sufiiciently great to overcome any load conditions upon the lever 5/.

By a mechanism made in accordance with my invention, an additional factor of safety in the event of fire, is afforded, since all doors in a shaft may be positively looked under normal conditions, while free access may be had to the car, or to the shaft, by the watchman, or other person in possession of the key. The stem r is inaccessible except by a special tool, so that its use to unlock a door, in the ordinary operation of a car, is impossible, although the emergency re lease mechanism does not in any way interfere with the free operation of the latch mechanism from the car, in the usual manner.

It is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details of construction shown in the accompanying drawings, it being apparent that such may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described the invention, what claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent, is

1. A locking mechanism for elevator doors, consisting of the combination with a plurality of door sections movable in opposite directions, the lower of w iich sections has a laterally extending hanger bar thereon. and a flexible connection between said hanger bar and the upper of said sections. of an oscillatory lever pivoted within an elevator shaf at acent the side of the door, means normal tendency to thrust said letoward said hanger bar cooperating means operative upon said lever and carried by an ele ztor car, whereby said lever may be withdrawn from its operative relation to said hanger bar, or permitted to assume its operative relation thereto, means operative upon said lever, and accessible from the floor side of the door, whereby sait lever may be withdrawn from its operative relation to saidhanger bar, and actuating means coop erating with said last named means.

2. A locking mechanism for elevator doors, consisting of the combination with a plurality of door sections movable in opposite directions, the lower of which sections has a laterally extending hanger bar therc on, and a flexible connection between said hanger bar and the upper of said sections, of an oscillatory lever pivoted within an elevator shaft, adjacent the side of the door, means having a normal tendency to thrust said lever toward said hanger bar, cooperating means operative upon said lever and carried by an elevator car, whereby said lever may-be withdrawn from its operative relation to said hanger bar, or permitted to assume its operative relation thereto, a screw threaded member operatively connected with said lever and exposed upon the floor side of the door, and screw threaded means adapted to cooperate therewith, whereby said lever may be withdrawn from its operative relation to said hanger bar.

8. A locking mechanism for elevator doors, consisting of the combination with a plurality of coor sections movable in opposite directions, the lower of which sections has a laterally extending hanger bar thereon, and a flexi le connection betneen said hanger bar and the upper of said sections, of an oscillatory lever pivoted within an elevator shaft, adjacent the side of the door, means having a normal tendency to thrust said lever toward said hanger bar, cooperating means operative upon said lever and carried by an elevator car, whereby said lever may be withdrz wn from its operative relation to said hanger bar, or permitted to assume its operative relation thereto, a screw threaded stem carried by said lever and projecting through an opening exposed upon the floor side of the door, and a screwthreaded socket key adapted to cooperate therewith, said key being detachable with relation to said stem.

4. A locking mechanism for elevator doors. consisting of the combination with a plurality of door sections movable in opposite directions, lower of which sections has a laterally extending hanger bar thereon, and a flexible connection between said hanger bar and the upper of said sections,

.1. tire of an oscillatorv lever pivoted within an elevator shaft, adjacent the side of the door, means having a normal tendency to said lever toward said hanger bar, cooperating means operative upon said lev r and carried by an elevator car, whereby said lever may be withdrawn from its operative relation said hanger bar, or permitted to assume its operative relation thereto, a screw threaded stem carried by said lever and projecting through an opening exposed upon the floor side or" the door, acscrewthreaded socket key adapted to cooperate therewith, said key being detachable with relation to said stem, and means carried by said stem and said key respectively, whereby said key and said stem are centered in relation to each other.

5. A locking mechanism for elevator doors, consisting of the combination with a plurality 0t door sections movable in opposite directions, the lower of which sections has a laterally extending hanger bar there on, and a flexible connection between said hanger bar and the upper of said sections, of

an oscillatory lever pivoted within an ele vator shaft, adjacent the side of the door, means having a normal tendency to thrust said lever toward said hanger bar, cooperating means operative upon said lever and carried by an elevator car, whereby said lever may be withdrawn from its operative relation to said hanger bar, or permitted to assume its operative relation thereto, a screw threaded stem pivotally connected with said lever and projecting through an opening exposed upon the floor side of the door, a screw-threaded socket key adapted to cooperate therewith, said key being detachable with relation to said stem, and means carried by said stem and said key respectively, whereby said key and said stem are centered in relation to each other.

6. 21 locking mechanism for elevator doors, consisting of the combination with a plurality of door sections movable in opposite directions, the lower of which sections has a laterally extending hanger bar thereon, and a flexible connection between said hanger bar and the upper of said sections, of an oscillatory lever pivoted within an elevator shaft, adjacent the side of the door, means having a normal tendency to thrust said lever toward said hanger bar, cooperating means operative upon said lever and carried by an elevator car, whereby said lever be withdrawn from its operative relathereto, a sleeve passing through the 1 adjacent said lever, a screw threaded stem pivotally connected with said lever and projecting within said sleeve, said stem having a collar thereon whereby it is centered in said sleeve and a flanged screw-threaded socket key, having a cylindrical portion, adapted to enter said sleeve and engage said stem, said key being detachable from said sleeve and said stem.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature, this 21st day of October, 1918, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

- BENJAMIN WEXLER.

lVitnesses AUeUsT KRUG, F. T. WENTWORTH. 

